Therapeutic communities whose general goal is to change antisocial behaviors, promote abstinence, and develop skills and prosocial attitudes towards other communities and people by living together within a structured environment have gained recognition in different parts of the world.
A therapeutic community is a group-based approach used to treat long-term illnesses such as drug addiction, personality disorder, and mental illness. Therapeutic communities have developed a well-reputed profile in the groups they support. Their work and approach are based on milieu therapy principles, including practical activities and group psychotherapy.
Moreover, therapeutic communities have been working to gain success in the services that they provide, such as:
- Patient satisfaction
- Human services
- Substance abuse treatment
- Treating addiction through the social-psychological method
- Rehabilitation
Primarily, in Britain, therapeutic communities have specialized in treating their clients who are facing different issues such as:
- Complex emotional problems
- Severe personality disorders
- Complex interpersonal problems
These communities are professional and trained enough to treat all types of moderate to severe disorders. However, therapeutic communities in different countries may have followed different hierarchical pathways to treat the clients. Whereas, in the United States, therapeutic communities have specialized in treating the clients who are drug or alcohol addicts and need the necessary treatment.
Therapeutic Communities – A Drug-Treatment Program!
It is one of the most common treatment methods to treat different addiction disorders. This method is included in community programs, drug-abuse reporting programs, and large-scale studies.
Therefore, therapeutic communities are famously known as residential and long-term programs that use some unique social treatment approaches. For example, therapeutic communities take the drug-abuse case as a program that requires both social and psychological goals because they view drug abuse as a special disorder of the person. At the same time, the person’s recovery process is considered the major impetus toward change and growth.
The Composition of a Therapeutic Community:
A community is comprised of staff, peers, colleagues, and clients that share common challenges and goals and are capable of assisting one another with progress.
Therapeutic communities follow specific techniques and methods while going through the learning process to improve their performance and reliability, such as:
- Social learning principles
- Behavioral learning principles
- Social role training
- Efficacy training
- Vicarious training
All the learning mentioned above and training help them view the disorder and find social and psychological ways to treat it effectively. The goal of the therapeutic communities is to make people understand that every individual is responsible for ensuring successfully their recovery process, which also might include the recovery of others through following daily productive activities such as:
- Work session
- Group session
- Rehab process
- And recreation
Conclusion
The primary aim of a therapeutic community is to maintain a drug-free environment and lifestyle which enables the community as a whole to work generously, utilize a present-oriented approach, emphasize personal responsibility, develop positive values, involve the community in maintaining a drug-free society, and follow honesty as well as good work ethic to form a healthy environment.
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Therapeutic_community
https://nida.nih.gov/publications/research-reports/therapeutic-communities/what-are-therapeutic-communities#:~:text=Therapeutic%20communities%20(TCs)%20are%20a,groups%20such%20as%20Alcoholics%20Anonymous